Sunday, 24 June 2012

Beware the Club of Rome/Agenda 21/ICLEI/Sustainability

reorientation of all human society, unlike anything the world has ever experienced a major shift in the priorities of both governments and individuals and an unprecedented redeployment of human and financial resources. This shiftwill demand that a concern for the environmental consequences of every human action be integrated into individual and collective decision-making at every level.“- UN Agenda 21

“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse?Isn’t it our responsiblity to bring that about?”

The great global warming scare has long been dying on its feet, but that sad fiasco of a conference in Rio last week saw it finally dead and buried. "It's pathetic, it's appalling," wailed a spokesman for WWF, one of the thousands of green activists who flew to Rio, many at taxpayers' expense, to see the last rites read over their lost dream. Their cause has even been abandoned by one of its most outspoken champions, the green guru James Lovelock of "Gaia" fame, who now admits that the warming scare was all a tragic mistake, and that talk of "Sustainable development" is just "meaningless drivel".

But the "epic failure" of Rio, as Friends of the Earth called it, is an apt cue to recall how this leaves Britain as only country in the world committed by law to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide by 80 per cent in less than 40 years: The Climate Change Act, on the Government's own figures, faces us with a bill of up to £18 billion every year until 2050, making it by far the most costly law ever passed by Parliament.

More important still, however, this raises the question: how do all those MPs who voted almost unanimously for this target (only three voted against it) think we can meet this obligation without closing down virtually our entire economy?

This is the question which, in April, I invited readers to put to their MPs, and I am very grateful to all those who have now sent me the replies they received, from nearly 50 MPs. These, I fear, are even more depressing than I anticipated.

The question put to the MPs was simple. Since we depend on CO2-emitting fossil fuels for 75 per cent of our electricity and almost all of our transport system, how in practical terms can we reduce those emissions by four-fifths? It is no good pretending that we can rely on "renewables" such as wind and solar to fill the gap, since these are so intermittent that they would require up to 100 per cent backup from fossil fuels to keep our now largely computer-dependent economy functioning.

Not one of the 47 MPs who answered showed the faintest understanding of the question. Many simply relied on a form letter supplied by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, starting with the sentence:

"Decarbonisation does not mean de-industrialisation." The more honest MPs sent on DECC's letter, others used cut-and-paste to pretend that this reply was all their own work.

Some, such as our climate change minister Greg Barker, chirped about "the Green Deal, Renewables Incentives and Smart Meters". Fiona Bruce (Con, Congleton) was "assured that onshore wind is by far the cheapest large-scale renewable energy source". Roberta Blackman-Woods (Lab, Durham) claimed "nearly a million people now work in the low-carbon economy, with the potential to create 400,000 green jobs by 2020".

The silliest response came from Oliver Letwin, who said that the quoted costs of the Climate Change Act had been greatly exaggerated (not realising that the figures come from DECC's own website), and predicted that solar, wind and carbon capture (as yet non-existent) will soon be so cheap that, in a few years, they "will be able to operate without subsidies". As reader after reader observed, not a single MP addressed the question. Not one had done any serious homework or showed the slightest practical grasp of how electricity is made and how our transport system is powered. They merely regurgitated irrelevant, jargon-ridden propaganda passed on to them by others. As one reader put it: "What is infinitely depressing is that all these

idiots believe the nonsense they are fed."

They live in a bubble of make-believe which doesn't touch reality at any point. Yet these are the people who passed the most potentially damaging law in our history - in the name of a delusion which, in Rio last week, died the death.

Somewhere along the way, if our country is to survive, that Climate Change Act will have be thrown into the dustbin of history. But judging by their letters, these MPs will be the very last people to realise it. As the man from WWF said, "It's pathetic, it's appalling."

UNQUOTE.

As usual, Christopher Booker hit the nail fairly and squarely on the head.

2.0 John Holdren, Agenda 21 and the IPCC

An interesting article "John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, says: Forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet" (http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/#white_house_statement) discusses opinions expressed in a 1977 book "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment" (http://www.questia.com/read/98156598/ecoscience-population-resources-environment). This presents the proposals of co-authors Paul and Anne Ehrlich and John Holdren on subjects such as global government, population control and environmental management. Few of these proposals are acceptable to those of us who reject the idea of independent nations handing over authority to unelected organisations such as the UN.

The article includes scans of 18 pages from the book that are referenced in the article and the Questia page provides a useful search facility. This disclosed that the opinions and proposals offered by Holdren and the Ehrlichs included:

- “ .. Even more than the resources of the oceans, the atmosphere is shared by all human beings -- and other organisms as well. It is crucial to preserve the atmospheres quality and the stability of global climate .. But that these are now threatened and should be protected by international agreement is only beginning to be recognized in a few quarters. Should a Law of the Sea be successfully established, it could serve as a model for a future Law of the Atmosphere to regulate the use of airspace, to monitor climate change, and to control atmospheric pollution. Perhaps those agencies, combined with UNEP and the United Nations population agencies, might eventually be developed into a Planetary Regime -- sort of an international superagency for population, resources, and environment. Such a comprehensive Planetary Regime could control the development, administration.. (Page 943)

- “ .. there must be a transition to a size-controlled eventually declining population, an internationally regulated Planetary Regime for the global commons, and something resembling the dynamic equilibrium economy espoused by Herman Daly and Emile Benoit .. ” (Page 944),

Holdren's representatives have claimed that the book was simply a text book covering proposals from various sources and not be regarded as his personal opinions (Note 3) however, that is not the only controversial book that Holdren co-authored with the Ehrlichs (Note 4).

So it seems that under the pretext of protecting global environments Holdren wants to see global laws (such as a Law of the Sea, Law of the Atmosphere, Population Law - "Ecoscience .. " Pages 941 & 837) for the purpose of monitoring controlling human activities and transferring wealth from developed to underdeveloped economies, all managed by a Global Government (Note 5). Perhaps that explains his enthusiasm for supporting the UN's IPCC (set up by UNEP and the WMO).

"Ecoscience .. " opens with a preface by Harrison Brown (see also Notes 1 and 2) which says “ .. It is clear that the future course of history will be determined by the rates at which people breed and die, by the rapidity with which nonrenewable resources are consumed, by the extent and speed with which agricultural production can be improved, by the rate at which the underdeveloped areas can industrialize, by the rapidity with which we are able to develop new resources, as well as by the extent to which we succeed in avoiding future wars. All of these factors are interlocked.”

3.0 The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide

"...current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class - involving high meat intake use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work-place air-conditioning, and suburban housing - are not sustainable. A shift is necessary. which will require a vast strengthening of the multilateral system, including the United Nations..." [1] Maurice Strong , opening speech at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development

The UN Plan For Human Settlements = also by Berit Kjos, June 1996 - that began " .. Land...cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes. Public control of land use is therefore indispensable.... ... Bicycles instead of cars? Dense apartment clusters instead of single homes? Community rituals instead of churches? "Human rights" instead of religious freedom? .. "

Are these simply "Conspiracy theories" or real political agenda?

Let's look at what in May 2011 Australian Graham Williamson considered to be happening under the Labour-Green coalition headed by Julia Goddard “ .. The Australian government is still rushing to implement every requirement of their United Nations masters. Their task, is to proceed to give the United Nations a stranglehold over Australia while simultaneously reassuring Australians, with some cash handouts and rewards, that all is under control and Australia is headed for a bright and bold new future…”
“The United Nations future, as implemented by the Australian government, is one where the legal system will give priority to distributive justice (people thousands of miles away have a claim on you if you possess more than them), intergenerational justice (the law will become clairvoyant and grant rights to people who do not yet exist), and animal rights (land owners will have to face animal lawyers in court disputes over property use). Further, lack of scientific evidence will be no defence because of the precautionary principle. Opponents will be silenced by a campaign of vilification and intimidation .. ” (http://tome22.info/Submissions/GW-AgendaFor21stCentury.htm).

More recently he says " .. This paper demonstrates various ways in which the Australian government has put the interests of Australia last in the interests of globalisation & the instructions of the UN. Though some consider the Australian government to be incompetent or “accident prone” the evidence indicates their actions are planned & deliberate & their purpose is to promote globalisation, certainly not strengthen Australia’s autonomy & independence. This being the case, it is concluded they are performing their task brilliantly.

But for all those patriotic Australians who care about the next generation & who would like to see a strong independent democratic prosperous Australia with high moral values and a high standard of living, then the future is very bleak indeed.

In an astonishing display of the degree of corruption of traditional legal and moral principles which has already occurred, some politicians or legal experts even seek to use environmental excuses to convict ordinary Australians of committing a crime when the victim cannot be named, does not exist, and his/her degree of suffering cannot be determined.

This is but a small sign of what is to come .. ” (see here).Graham has just released his report "Politicians Act as Agents for the United Nations to Enforce Agenda 21 Upon Australians". Anyone interested in seeing it should ask Graham (grahamhw AT iprimus.com.au).

4.0 Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)

THIS SECTION IS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS

The Charter of the International Council for Local Initiatives (ICLEI) declares that " .. ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (hereafter referred to as the “Association”) was established as an international local government association in the year 1990. From its founding until 31 December 2003, the Association bore the name “International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)” .. The Association’s seat shall be the location of its international headquarters (World Secretariat) .. The Association’s Mission shall be to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global sustainability with special focus on environmental conditions through cumulative local actions .. The Association shall build an active and committed municipal membership of local spheres of government (local and regional governments and authorities) as well as international, regional, national and sub-national local-government associations .. " (http://www.iclei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ICLEI_WS/Documents/Governance/Charter_approved_FINALforCOUNCIL20110912.pdf).

ICLEI Charter Clause 1.7 - Principles declares that " .. The Association shall promote, and ask its individual members to adopt, the following Earth Charter Principles to guide local action: .. (6) Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach .. ".

That clause relates directly to the stance of those who promote the UN's politically motivated Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change (CACC) hypothesis which speculates that our burgeoning use of fossil fuels will lead to catastrophic changes to the different global climates. Related to this aspect of Charter sub-clause 5,2 states " .. As of May 2011, ICLEI has initiated and serves as the Secretariat for the following bodies: (a) World Mayors Council on Climate Change .. ".

4.1 ICLEI Governance

4.1.1 The Council

" .. The Council represents ICLEI’s global membership by way of representative democracy. It is the supreme decision-making and oversight body of the global association .. The Council shall:
(a) have sole power to amend or revise this Charter;
(b) elect members to the ICLEI Global Executive Committee;
(c) establish directions for the Association and adopt the ICLEI Strategic Plan ..

Constitution and term of the Council
3.2.1 - The Council is composed of all those members who have a seat in the ICLEI Regional Executive Committees as stipulated in Article 4.2.8.
3.2.2 - The Council is established through a declaration by the Secretary General that the Regional Executive Committees have been established. In case the establishment of one or more Regional Executive Committees experiences a delay, the Council is established if at least two thirds of the Regional Executive Committees are established .. ".

TO BE UPDATED

4.1.2 The Global Executive Committee

President - David Cadman" .. has been serving as a Councillor at the City of Vancouver BC, Canada since 2004 .. ".First Vice-President - Martha Delgado
" .. is currently the Director General for the Covenant of Mayors Mexico City Pact at Fundacion Pensar and has served as the Secretary of Environment at Mexico City, President of the Latin American Network of Environmental Authorities and the alternate governor of the World Water Council. Among various achievements, she coordinated the elaboration of the Mexico City Climate Action Plan .. ".

Vice-Presidents

Mary Jane Crisanto Ortega - " .. the former Mayor of San Fernando City, Philippines, and is currently serving as the Secretary General of CityNet - The Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements in Asia-Pacific .. ".

James Nxumalo . " .. Mayor of Durban, South Africa .. has been leading local governments across Africa and worldwide to promote urban biodiversity, resilience and sustainability .. ".

More details for each of these individuals will be provided in Appendix B.

TO BE UPDATED

4.2 ICLEI Involvement in promoting CACC

" .. Park, Won-soon, Mayor, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Chief Delegate to UNFCCC .. has a background in international law .. As Chair of the WMCCC and chief delegate to UNFCCC, he represents ICLEI Member Cities in issues related to climate change and governance ..".

" .. The World Mayors Council on Climate Change is an alliance of committed local government leadersconcerned about climate change. They advocate for enhanced engagement of local governments as governmental stakeholders in multilateral efforts addressing climate change and related issues of global sustainability ...founded in December 2005 by Yorikane Masumoto, Mayor of City of Kyoto (Japan) .. Chair of the Council is Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government. Jürgen Nimptsch, Mayor of Bonn (Germany), is serving as Vice Chair while Former Mayor Yorikane Masumoto of Kyoto City (Japan) is the Honorary Chair .. " (http://www.worldmayorscouncil.org/about.html)." .. In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change .. By 1995, countries realized that emission reductions provisions in the Convention were inadequate .. At the very heart of the response to climate change, however, lies the need to reduce emissions. In 2010, governments agreed that emissions need to be reduced so that global temperature increases are limited to below 2 degrees Celsius .. " (http://unfccc.int/essential_background/items/6031.php).Although there is no mention on that UNFCCC web-page of what emissions are being referred to, these are human emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly CO2 from our use of fossil fuels. It is clear that the ICLEI is founded upon the belief that our burgeoning use of fossil fuels is leading to CACC and its focus is on that topic from behind the smoke screen of "sustainability".

5.0 Agenda 21, Club of Rome, UN, ENEP, UNESCO, UNFCCC, et al.

Although at first glance these may appear to be quite distinct groups with different agenda that is not the reality. A single umbrella embraces them and is recognised by the term Global Governance.

5.1 The Club of Rome (where the buck stops)

" .. The real enemy then, is humanity itself .. "

(Alexander King and Bertrand Schneider)

In 1993Club of Rome President Ricardo Diez Hochleitner said in his Forward to The First Global Revolution: A Report by the Council of the Club of Rome" (click hear) by Alexander King and Bertrand Schneider that " .. in 1968 .. the Club of Rome .. was founded by Aurelio Peccei (its first President until 1984) and Alexander King at the Academia dei Lincei in Rome .. The Club was widely criticised for what was seen as advocacy of a zero growth economy. This was never our intention. We fully accepted the pressing need for material growth in the poor countries of the world, but warned readers about the consequences of an unthinking pursuit of growth by the industrialized countries .. ".

That report says on P75 " .. The common enemy of humanity is Man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming,water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. In their totality and their interactions these phenomena do constitute a common threat which must be confronted by everyone together. All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy then, is humanity itself .. "

The report talks about anthropogenic environmental pollution, including on Page 25 " .. The most menacing macro-pollution so far, the so-called "greenhouse effect" .. trace gasses control the greenhouse effect. Since the Industrial Revolution, the proportion of these gase in the atmosphere has increased. The most important of these, carbon dioxide, has increased by 25% .. due to the combustion of fossil fuels .. ".QUOTE .. So, what exactly is the Club of Rome and who are its members? Founded in 1968 at David Rockefeller’s estate in Bellagio, Italy, the CoR describes itself as “a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity.” It consists of current and former Heads of State, UN beaureacrats, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business leaders from around the globe .. UNQUOTE (http://agendatwentyone.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/the-club-of-rome-where-the-buck-stops/).

Many of those named in the article will be familiar to most readers. The links given are worth following. This quotation in one of the comments is worth considering " .. “Whenever an ideal, ANY ideal, gets its hands on the real levers of power —you get pure EVIL.” -D H Lawrence 1922.

In his 1988 message to the delegates at the Twentieth Anniversary Conference of the Club of Rome in Paris, Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh commented "No generation has ever liked its prophets, least of all those who point out the consequences of bad judgement and lack of foresight. The Club of Rome can take pride in the fact that it has been unpopular for the last twenty years. I hope it will continue for many years to come to spell out the unpalatable facts and to unsettle the conscience of the smug and apathetic".

Prince Phillip and his offspring might wish for a return to the "good old days" when lesser mortals knew their place in society but that won't happen. The Rev. Robert Malthus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_the_Principle_of_Population) wrote his influential 1798 "Essay on the Principle of Population" during just such a time but thankfully times have changed for the better since then. Industrial growth will continue to drag the deprived populations of the developing nations out of poverty and servitude. Malthus argued that " .. This constant effort (towards an increase of population) constantly tends to subject the lower classes of the society to distress and to prevent any great permanent amelioration of their condition .. ". Just the opposite took place, with those "lower classes" enjoying more and more opportunities to significantly improve their lot. Malthus had not anticipated the impact ofhuman ingenuity in th efor of the industrial revolution. Not only that but those increased opportunities and wealth have led to smaller families. Long may it continue!

5.1.1 New World Order I: World Communism, Club of Rome Tells G20 AUGUST 29, 2009

This article (http://nwoobserver.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/new-world-order-i-world-communism-club-of-rome-tells-g20/) says QUOTE: .. Summary:This is a review of a speech made by Club of Rome´s secretary-general before UNESCO at a meeting on 15 June. The Speech was presented to the G20 in London on 2 April – and to the G8 and the G5 as well. The secretary-general says that the Club of Rome has moved on to influencing world politics directly. He wants a strong climate policy, communist distribution of wealth in the world, sustainability, reduction of our consumption, stop population to growth, radical restructuring of the world government now. Problems can only be solved together: global government for global problems. Otherwise unimaginable disaster awaits us. UNESCO will be used to indoctrinates world population accordingly... the threats of climate change and ecosystems collapseare real and imminent and .. an inequitable and polarised world of rich and poor is morally unacceptable and presents major dangers of conflict, then it will be evident that the connected challenges of the 21st Century will only be contained and resolved through a radical redesign and reform of the architecture of global governance .. UNQUOTE

That final paragraph pulls into context much of what is discussed on this Global Political Shenanigans blog.

“Since the first edition of Population, Resources, Environment was published seven years ago [1970], the population of the world has grown by almost one-half billion people…. The realization has dawned that seemingly disparate events in the economic, environmental, and political spheres are interconnected. That civilization has entered a period of grave crisis is now doubted only by those afflicted with incurable Micawberism; everyone who is alertable is alerted.”

“It is clear that the future course of history will be determined by the rates at which people breed and die, by the rapidity with which nonrenewable resources are consumed, by the extent and speed with which agricultural production can be improved, by the rate at which the underdeveloped areas can industrialize, by the rapidity with which we are able to develop new resources, as well as by the extent to which we succeed in avoiding future wars. All of these factors are interlocked.” — Harrison Brown in the opening quotation for Ecoscience (p. 1, 3rd Ed.)

Whole chapters of Ecoscience are devoted to population growth and sexual reproduction. Clearly, there are too many of you and something must be done .. UNQUOTE.

I have indeed read one of Holdren’s recent works that reveals his clingy reverence for, and allegiance to, the gurus of population control authoritarianism. He’s just gotten smarter about cloaking it behind global warming hysteria. In 2007, he addressed the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference .. Holdren admitted that his “preoccupation” with apocalyptic matters such as “the rates at which people breed” is a lifelong obsession inspired by scientist Harrison Brown .. UNQUOTE.

3) QUOTE: .. his staff gave The Washington Times a statement that said, "This material is from a three-decade-old, three-author college textbook. Dr. Holdren addressed this issue during his confirmation when he said he does not believe that determining optimal population is a proper role of government. Dr. Holdren is not and never has been an advocate for policies of forced sterilization." .. UNQUOTE (http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/#white_house_statement).

4) Their 1973 book "Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions" says QUOTE: .. De-development means bringing our economic system .. into line with the realities of ecology and the global resource situation .. Resources must be diverted from .. overdeveloped countries to .. underdeveloped countries .. This effort must be largely political .. but the campaign should be strongly supplemented by legal and boycott action against polluters and others whose activities damage the environment. The need for de-development presents our economists with a major challenge. They must design a stable, low-consumption economy in which there is a much more equitable distribution of wealth than in the present one. Redistribution of wealth both within and among nations is absolutely essential, if a decent life is to be provided for every human being .. UNQUOTE (Page 279.see http://www.questia.com/library/5788193/human-ecology-problems-and-solutions).

2012-12-27 and 28 Sections "The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide" and "Agenda 21, the Club of Rome, the UN, ENEP, UNESCO, et al." added.2014-01-17 General update comprising additions to earlier sections and the addition of new ones, particularly about the ICLEI.

It is written: "The question put to the MPs was simple. Since we depend on CO2-emitting fossil fuels for 75 per cent of our electricity and almost all of our transport system, how in practical terms can we reduce those emissions by four-fifths? "~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~What you folks refuse to acknowledge, {but that is haunting us with increasingly disruptive and destructive weather events}, is that our planet's geophysical processed don't give a rat's ass about our greeds and desires and dreams and laziness. So while we continue watching our climate transition, denialist types, such as this Booker, continue dreaming that we can control our destiny while disregarding the planetary processes that our complex society depends on.